Watford volunteers of all ages help cleanse town

Over 300 Watford residents, businesses, schools and community groups armed themselves with litter pick sticks to spruce up their favourite parks, playing fields and streets in the Great British Spring Clean.

The campaign, run by Keep Britain Tidy and coordinated locally by Watford Borough Council and waste management company, Veolia, was held from 22 March – 23 April, 2019 and inspired people from all over the country to show love for their community through litter picking.

Watford volunteers, including over 230 students, litter picked outside schools, parks and streets to show their support for the campaign.

Oxhey Park, Meriden Park, Kingswood Estate, Ascot Road and Woodside Playing Fields are among the places that were cleaned, with more locations being targeted throughout May.

In total, 72 bags of litter and 20 bags of recyclable litter such as plastic bottles and drinks cans were collected and recycled.

Darren Harding, senior contracts manager for Veolia, said: “A huge thank you to all the volunteers who gave up their time to instil civic pride in their favourite spots in Watford. We had volunteers from John Lewis to a Herts Health Walk Group all taking part in being litter heroes. Your contribution has helped to keep Watford looking tidy, safe and green.”

During the campaign, Veolia visited schools and delivered litter awareness sessions to over 1,400 school children.

The sessions educated children on the detrimental impact of litter on wildlife and the environment and how using litter bins makes Watford a better place to live and play.

In total across the UK, the Great British Spring Clean brought together over 560,000 litter-pickers, collecting nearly one million bags of litter.